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“Sculptors can’t be rivals to kings,” said Khosrou, so he sent Farhad into exile to a mountain called Behistun and told him he couldn’t return until he carved a staircase into the stone cliffside—all the way up the mountain.

He carved the stone of Behistun into a staircase—one step at a time—all the while dreaming that he’d reach the peak of the mountain and by then he’d have changed the world.

He had reached the top of Behistun.

Karaj is a mountainous city so far away from Behistun—where Farhad carved his love letter to Shirin—that you could fit fifteen Edmond, Oklahomas in between.

It is to his favour that Darius, inscribing upon the rock of Behistun the narrative of his nineteen victories, ascribes both his elevation and his triumphs.